DS-U2-GKA
Spacecraft · France · Russia
Original archive entry. The text, images and links below are kept as they were written.

Credit: © Mark Wade
Soviet-French earth magnetosphere satellite. Upper atmosphere, auroral studies. Investigation of physical phenomena in the Earth's upper atmosphere at high latitudes and study of the nature of auroras.
This was a Soviet-French collaborative project, Russian code name Arkad. Launched by Kosmos-2, the spacecraft studied physics and the characteristics of the upper atmosphere. Instruments included Soviet/French magnetosphere and ionosphere experiments, equipment for studying the physical processes in the earth's magnetosphere and ionosphere, and study of the nature of polar aurora.
More at: Oreol-1.
Related
- Family
- Earth, Magnetosphere sat
- Launch Vehicles
- R-14, Kosmos 3, Kosmos 11K65M
- Projects
- Aureole
- Launch Sites
- Plesetsk, Plesetsk LC132/2
- Agency
- Yuzhnoye
Photo Gallery
Chronology
2 events
1971 December 27
19:00 GMT - . Launch Site: Plesetsk. Launch Complex: Plesetsk LC132/2. LV Family: R-14. Launch Vehicle: Kosmos 11K65M.- Oreol - . Payload: DS-U2-GKA s/n 1. Mass: 630 kg (1,380 lb). Nation: France. Agency: MO. Program: Aureole. Class: Earth. Type: Magnetosphere satellite. Spacecraft: DS-U2-GKA. Completed Operations Date: 1972-09-01 . USAF Sat Cat: 5729 . COSPAR: 1971-119A. Apogee: 1,779 km (1,105 mi). Perigee: 391 km (242 mi). Inclination: 74.00 deg. Period: 106.90 min. Upper atmosphere, auroral studies. Investigation of physical phenomena in the Earth's upper atmosphere at high latitudes and study of the nature of auroras. .
1973 December 26
16:30 GMT - . Launch Site: Plesetsk. Launch Complex: Plesetsk LC132/2. LV Family: R-14. Launch Vehicle: Kosmos 11K65M.- Oreol 2 - . Payload: DS-U2-GKA s/n 2. Mass: 550 kg (1,210 lb). Nation: France. Agency: MO. Program: Aureole. Class: Earth. Type: Magnetosphere satellite. Spacecraft: DS-U2-GKA. Completed Operations Date: 1974-04-30 . USAF Sat Cat: 7003 . COSPAR: 1973-107A. Apogee: 1,441 km (895 mi). Perigee: 387 km (240 mi). Inclination: 74.00 deg. Period: 103.30 min. Continued investigations in the earth's upper atmosphere at high latitudes and study of the nature of polar aurorae begun on board the Oreol satellite in 1971..


